Preschool teachers have many good suggestions for making child care easier for parents and grandparents. They recommend alternating short active and quiet activities between meals, nutritious snacks, naps, and reading. Quiet activities are easy indoors, but active ones can be easy, also, when weather is inclement. Almost any sport can be adapted for indoor play with recycled materials.
Indoor Mini Golf
To make an indoor miniature golf course collect small boxes, plastic containers, small rugs, cardboard tubes and pieces, duct tape, paint stir sticks, cups, stuffed animals, and small balls.
Conversation and planning together are so important while creating the obstacles for a miniature golf course. If children have never been to one, search on You Tube or Google images for miniature golf courses. Make a list of obstacles. Then think of ones you can create with materials around the house. If you make the obstacles in small modules they can be stored in a few bins and taken out again later.
Construction Plan
Design your course together and make a map of your plan. You’re teaching children that a plan is needed whenever they do a project. Do children want a theme of princesses, teddy bears, Star Wars, or cars? What is the course’s name?
Real miniature golf courses often have obstacles with an entry and an exit. Children can choose boxes, decorate, and plan placement while adults cut the openings. An empty oatmeal cylinder makes a good tunnel.
Courses often have ramps. These can be made with blocks or small boxes and a wide strip of cardboard or wood. Look among the toys. Perhaps children can make Lego or large block bridges and ramps. The construction time is another means to create time for family discussion and vocabulary building.
Talk about gravity and ramp height. While making 
ramps, add cardboard and duct tape fences along the edges to keep the ball on the ramp. The toy box might also have plastic train parts that can be curved ramps for the ball. Some ramps might lead to nowhere with a cup at the end.
Stuffed animals, dolls, and action figures are excellent for guiding the ball’s path and decorating the course. Each section can be named for a character.
Courses also have rough areas. Use a rug and make small bumps. Stuff newspapers or small blankets under rugs or sheets to make the curves and hills. The difficulty can easily be adjusted.
Golf clubs may be a small hockey stick or a paint stick with a rolled newspaper or cardboard attached with duct tape. Balls can be made from newspaper surrounded by tape.
The last step of playtime is cleaning up so toys can be found again.
Photo: Fran Darling; Sketch: Nowicki
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest
Parents and Grandparents need quick recipes for fun when children are bored even though that word has been banished from the house. Easy homemade recipes for Wacky Putty, Goop, Gak, and Glop come to the rescue. All of them have interesting texture and creative possibilities. Young scientists can experiment and observe what happens when they change the recipe slightly.
Wacky Putty, Cool Goop
None of these recipes are edible so make sure no one (or pet) in the house eats them. These first recipes are recommended for ages three and older.
For Putty, mix one part white school glue (Elmer’s) with one part Sta Flo liquid starch found at grocery stores. Stir the ingredients with a spoon and then knead with your hands. Add a little more starch if the mixture becomes too sticky. After children stretch it, create a ball, bounce it, roll it into worms and other shapes it may become sticky again. Simply work in a few drops of starch. Three drops of food coloring may be worked in to mix colors and exercise little fingers.
To make Goop, place one part salt, one part flour, and one part water in a bowl so children can mix it in a circular pattern with a spoon. Once mixed, place in a strong freezer plastic bag or double bag with a strong closure. Place drops of one or more food colorings in the bag so children two and older can squish gently and make secondary colors.
Spread goop in a box or can and press macaroni while still wet. Allow to dry and paint with poster paint.
Rainbow Glop and Gak
Rainbow Glop is a fun for toddlers and older.
Mix 1/3-cup sugar, 1-cup
cornstarch, and four cups cold water. Heat on low and stir (adults) until thick. When cool, place in a strong freezer bag (or double bag) and add three drops each of different food colors. Zip lock closed and reinforce top and seams with packing tape or duct tape. Children can squish into rainbow colors. This is excellent to teach how primary colors mix to make secondary colors of purple, green, and orange. Do not pour any kind of Goop down the sink.
There are Slime and Gak recipes with and without Borax. To make a simple slime mix without Borax use equal parts StaFlo laundry starch and Elmer’s white glue. Other white glue does not work well. To experiment, add a little more starch to the mix until it is stiffer and you can place a straw in it and blow amazing bubbles. Recipes can be refrigerated for several days but are not long lasting. Throw away in the garbage .
Photos: Iris Katers; Fran Darling
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest
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| fdarling fotos |
Eating more meals at home is one step toward eating healthier and doesn’t have to be a chore according to Laura Gauthier, a Marquette County Health Department registered dietician. Eating out several times a week may be quick, easy, and socially enjoyable for most people, but restaurant meals may be a big source of unwanted salt, fat, and sugar.
Start by going through the store ads with children to find valuable coupons. Look for foods the family enjoys and think of meals that incorporate these foods. Make a meal plan for even a few days and post on the refrigerator. Include side dishes of fruits and vegetables. Watch for produce to be in season and on sale. They may be something your family has never tried and become a new family favorite! Make a list, shop together, and teach children how to find fresh produce. Point out brown or wilted food.
Use Healthy Snacks
There are many very nutritious foods that also taste good. By having the knowledge on what foods to buy and how to prepare them, both taste and nutrition can be combined for optimum health. The Internet can be a great resource to learn how to prepare or eat a certain unfamiliar fruit or vegetable.
Incorporating healthy snacks into the family’s daily routine can be a great weight and nutrition management technique. Energy levels can be increased and hunger managed by eating the right snacks. Combining lean protein and fiber makes a powerful nutrient combination that will help with optimum fullness and overall satisfaction. Some examples of these combination snacks include homemade trail mixes, yogurt parfaits and smoothies.
Sneak in Veggies
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| Mark Nowicki |
A perfect way to combine taste and nutrition is by gradually adding “nutrition” to foods you enjoy. Take for example a smoothie. A fruit smoothie is naturally sweet, which tastes really good! A little fresh or frozen spinach adds vitamins without compromising the flavor.
Try leftover vegetables in an omelet at breakfast; add extra tomatoes or spinach to your sandwiches. Sliced peppers, snap peas, or cucumbers add extra crunch to lunchtime favorites. Children will enjoy using a table knife to cut veggies into math shapes. Soups and casseroles can have extra vegetables added. Substitute or add pureed fruits and veggies and extra whole grains for baked goods.
It is very important to enjoy what you are eating. It’s no surprise that taste wins over nutrition when it comes to food choices. As in previous mottos, “All foods can fit,” all foods that you enjoy can become a part of your family’s new daily diet.
This month focus on experimenting with foods. On the weekends, children can help wash and chop while you carry on a conversation. Refrigerate extras, and use all week.
Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos; Shetches: Mark Nowicki
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest
